1) I had read http://www.allaboutscience.org/evolution-of-man.htm and I wondered if the evolution of the man was for natural selection or microevolution, or for both of them.
The human is designed by nature (evolution) to modify any behavior that would normally be instinctive to one that would provide optimum benefit (survivability). This process is called self-control or self-discipline, and is the major difference between the human and the lower order animals, those that apply only instinct to their behavioral decisions. Evolution makes something new out of something that already exists. If a bear becomes distressed in a given environment, it does not sprout wings and fly. Instead, such things as longer legs or claws will be tested. Also, evolution often does not fix the thing that causes a problem, it patches the problem by doing something unrelated.
Our ancestors met astonishing challenges in their surroundings, and were susceptible to disease, injury, and predators. Environmental change – one of the ongoing challenges to survival – created both risks and opportunities in the lives of early humans. The period of human evolution was one of the most dramatic eras of climate instability in Earth’s history. In every generation, early humans faced the problem of how best to endure in their immediate surroundings. Yet over time, the line between thriving and extinction was defined by how best to adjust to the uncertainties of climate shifts between rainy and arid, glacial and warm. Uniting these two exciting domains of science – human origins and climate change – offers a compelling new way to examine the evidence of human evolution. 2) After reading http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_evolution I wondered if the expansion of human brain had any relation with the use of tools.
As early humans faced new environmental challenges and evolved bigger bodies, they evolved larger and more complex brains.Large, complex brains can process and store a lot of information. That was a big advantage to early humans in their social interactions and encounters with unfamiliar habitats.Over the course of human evolution, brain size tripled. The modern human brain is the largest and most complex of any primate.From 6–2 million years ago, during this time period, early humans began to walk upright and make simple tools. Brain size increased, but only slightly. From 2 million–800,000 years ago, during this time period early humans spread around the globe, encountering many new environments on different continents. These challenges, along with an increase in body size, led to an increase in brain size. From 800,000–200,000 years ago, human brain size evolved most rapidly during a time of dramatic climate change. Larger, more complex brains enabled early humans of this time period to interact with each other and with their surroundings in new and different ways. As the environment became more unpredictable, bigger brains helped our ancestors survive. 3) I wondered while I was reading the articles, if the tool's invention was inspired by something or it was a original way to simplify the human's life.
The earliest stone toolmaking developed by at least 2.6 million years ago. The Early Stone Age includes the most basic stone toolkits made by early humans. The Early Stone Age in Africa is equivalent to what is called the Lower Paleolithic in Europe and Asia.The oldest stone tools, known as the Oldowan toolkit, consist of at least:•hammerstones that show battering on their surfaces;•stone cores that show a series of flake scars along one or more edges; and•sharp stone flakes that were struck from the cores and offer useful cutting edges, along with lots of debris from the process of percussion flaking.By about 1.6 million years ago, early humans began to strike really large flakes and then continue to shape them by striking smaller flakes from around the edges. The resulting implements included a new kind of tool called a handaxe. These tools and other kinds of ‘large cutting tools’ characterize the Acheulean toolkit.The basic toolkit, including a variety of novel forms of stone core, continued to be made. It and the Acheulean toolkit were made for an immense period of time – ending in different places by around 400,000 to 250,000 years ago.
The human is designed by nature (evolution) to modify any behavior that would normally be instinctive to one that would provide optimum benefit (survivability). This process is called self-control or self-discipline, and is the major difference between the human and the lower order animals, those that apply only instinct to their behavioral decisions. Evolution makes something new out of something that already exists. If a bear becomes distressed in a given environment, it does not sprout wings and fly. Instead, such things as longer legs or claws will be tested. Also, evolution often does not fix the thing that causes a problem, it patches the problem by doing something unrelated.
Our ancestors met astonishing challenges in their surroundings, and were susceptible to disease, injury, and predators. Environmental change – one of the ongoing challenges to survival – created both risks and opportunities in the lives of early humans. The period of human evolution was one of the most dramatic eras of climate instability in Earth’s history. In every generation, early humans faced the problem of how best to endure in their immediate surroundings. Yet over time, the line between thriving and extinction was defined by how best to adjust to the uncertainties of climate shifts between rainy and arid, glacial and warm. Uniting these two exciting domains of science – human origins and climate change – offers a compelling new way to examine the evidence of human evolution.
2) After reading http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_evolution I wondered if the expansion of human brain had any relation with the use of tools.
As early humans faced new environmental challenges and evolved bigger bodies, they evolved larger and more complex brains.Large, complex brains can process and store a lot of information. That was a big advantage to early humans in their social interactions and encounters with unfamiliar habitats.Over the course of human evolution, brain size tripled. The modern human brain is the largest and most complex of any primate.From 6–2 million years ago, during this time period, early humans began to walk upright and make simple tools. Brain size increased, but only slightly. From 2 million–800,000 years ago, during this time period early humans spread around the globe, encountering many new environments on different continents. These challenges, along with an increase in body size, led to an increase in brain size. From 800,000–200,000 years ago, human brain size evolved most rapidly during a time of dramatic climate change. Larger, more complex brains enabled early humans of this time period to interact with each other and with their surroundings in new and different ways. As the environment became more unpredictable, bigger brains helped our ancestors survive.
3) I wondered while I was reading the articles, if the tool's invention was inspired by something or it was a original way to simplify the human's life.
The earliest stone toolmaking developed by at least 2.6 million years ago. The Early Stone Age includes the most basic stone toolkits made by early humans. The Early Stone Age in Africa is equivalent to what is called the Lower Paleolithic in Europe and Asia.The oldest stone tools, known as the Oldowan toolkit, consist of at least:•hammerstones that show battering on their surfaces;•stone cores that show a series of flake scars along one or more edges; and•sharp stone flakes that were struck from the cores and offer useful cutting edges, along with lots of debris from the process of percussion flaking.By about 1.6 million years ago, early humans began to strike really large flakes and then continue to shape them by striking smaller flakes from around the edges. The resulting implements included a new kind of tool called a handaxe. These tools and other kinds of ‘large cutting tools’ characterize the Acheulean toolkit.The basic toolkit, including a variety of novel forms of stone core, continued to be made. It and the Acheulean toolkit were made for an immense period of time – ending in different places by around 400,000 to 250,000 years ago.